Donkey Kong and its redesign in the presentation of Nintendo Switch 2, which is a tribute to the character’s origin

The official announcement of Nintendo Switch 2 surprised us all with images of the new Mario Kart, an installment that aims to be the biggest yet and in which a legendary Nintendo character appeared with a design that did not go unnoticed, as it hasn’t been used for decades. This is Donkey Kong, one of the most emblematic characters with more than four decades behind him, who first appeared in the unforgettable arcade of the same name in 1981.

A character that Nintendo seemed to have forgotten, focusing on a very specific type of game, as seen in the Game Boy title that was released in 1994, the year in which everything would change. From the hands of British Rare, Donkey Kong Country would be released on Super Nintendo and would be an immediate success, a title that was quality in its maximum essence and that had an incomparable charisma. A more forceful design of Donkey Kong himself that the Japanese company would adopt from that moment until now, in what seems to be a remarkable change in the new installment of Mario Kart and that can tell us a lot about the future of the most popular ape in the video game industry.

A redesign with classic flair

The first game in the Mario Kart saga was Super Mario Kart, released in 1992 on Super Nintendo, the 16-bit console from the Japanese company that for many remains the console that shone the brightest in its history, with a catalog of excellent quality. The title did not have Donkey Kong as one of the eligible characters, but instead Donkey Kong Jr. was chosen, this first release being, curiously, the only one in which he has appeared in the long-lived driving saga.

Nintendo took advantage of Donkey Kong Jr.‘s classic design from the arcade and NES game of the same name and did away with a Donkey Kong altogether, which speaks to the popularity of the character and the low expectations Nintendo had for it. Now, thanks to the massive success of ’The Super Mario Bros Movie', which featured the classic design, it seems that the Japanese company has reacted and Mario Kart 9 will be the video game chosen for the return of this design, which is now familiar to many gamers thanks to the successful movie.

Does the future of Donkey Kong lie in its classic design? We’ll have to wait and see, but there have been all kinds of reactions to this decision, and it’s three decades with a design that made him an instant success and continues to be talked about with titles like the remastered Nintendo Switch version of Donkey Kong Country Returns.

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